The Telecommunicator is trained to ask questions for police, fire, and medical calls. The Telecommunicator is asking questions to provide as much information as possible to the responders (police, fire, paramedics) for their and your safety, and so that the responders can efficiently help solve your problem when they arrive. In addition, the Telecommunicator is trained to deliver potentially life-saving instructions over the phone before paramedics arrive. Asking these questions or giving instructions is not delaying help, as the COMPUTER-AIDED-DISPATCH (CAD) system allows for all the Telecommunicators in the communication center to work together. While one Telecommunicator is handling your call, another Telecommunicator is dispatching the help!
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
WSCDC will post available positions on this website. There are many steps to the hiring process including: application, orientation, basic skills test, typing test, interview, police background, psychological test, and medical examination. Experience is a plus, but not required. A college degree is also preferred, but a high school diploma is required. You must be able to type 35 words-per-minute.
The communities of Elmwood Park, Oak Park, Park Ridge, and River Forest have combined to form WSCDC. The Telecommunicators at WSCDC answer your 9-1-1 call and dispatch the necessary resources including police, fire, or EMS. There are many financial and operational benefits to consolidating multiple villages into one 9-1-1 center.
Some citizens reporting a problem want to sign a complaint and some do not. Regardless, the police officer will still respond to investigate the complaint, but needs to know if the caller needs to be seen once the investigation is complete. If you do not want to speak to a police officer, simply tell the Telecommunicator and they will let the police officer know.
When a Telecommunicator receives a 9-1-1 call from your land-line, they receive your address and phone number. When a Telecommunicator receives a 9-1-1 call from your cell phone, they receive your phone number and a latitude and longitude reading which then gets translated into an address. It is a national standard to ask you for your address and then verify the information provided against what is on the computer screen in both cases. Verifying the location of the incident is the most important thing the Telecommunicator does. If we don’t get help to the correct location, we have failed. Computer systems can be wrong, so asking for the address and verifying it is crucial.
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